Back in October, when I was in Los Angeles, my at-the-time-unborn nephew had yet to be named. Emily and I took the task very seriously of assisting in picking out the perfect name. My sister and I, while being very much alike, have a few key differences between us- including baby names. I’m a little more out there while my sister prefers the more traditional. She told me I could help her come up with baby names as long as I didn’t suggest anything like ‘Olive’ (the name of the little girl in one of my favorite movies Little Miss Sunshine, and also a name that I happen to find adorable… even though I hate olives). I relented and respected her tastes. On part of our drive from LA to San Fran, Emily and I made a long list of names that included Drew, Joseph, Max, etc, with a few names that she might find edgy, like Aidan (of course we would draw inspiration from Sex and the City because we played it on repeat during late nights working on studio projects in college!). 

However, while strolling down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Emily and I decided to provide a few comical choices for the name game. Some names we picked because they’re funny/ridiculous, while others because they will forever provoke an image of a particular person… I mean who can hear the name Leonard and not think of The Big Bang Theory? Emily and I excitedly moved from one star to the next, finding the perfect names to document. I never got around to sending these options to my sister (no surprise there since I’m writing about part of the road trip six months later), but now I hope she will take a look and at least have a laugh or two… at the mere thought of naming her son Merman. After all, she’s safe since my handsome nephew was born in February and she went with one of my top choices (in the traditional category that is), Alexander. (Side note: I’m calling him Xander… because that just makes him sound a little cooler.)